“As artists, we’re all constantly struggling to remain relevant, grow and evolve aesthetically. This is a process that is ongoing… the ‘cup’ will never be full. We will continue to do this and strive for growth until the day we are no more. There is always a ‘NEXT BIG THING’ and many of us do not fit this mold. – Matthew Ryan Sharp

The show, ‘Underground,’ is located in the Office Ops building, 57 Thames Street, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY on August 10, 2012 from 5-9pm.

About the Artists
Matthew Rose is an American artist living and working in Paris, France. Known for his collage work and large scale installations of his work, as well as the global art project A Book About Death, he graduated Brown University with a degree in semiotics and linguistics (1981). His works are widely collected Europe and the US and are in both public and private collections.

Rick Prol is an ‘80s East Village icon whose work features cartoonish mayhem, death and suicide in dilapidated and decaying settings. He dabbles in a variety of media including – installations, paintings, sculpture and drawings. Much of the inspiration for Prol’s work stems from general childhood trauma. Cartoon expressionism was the language he wanted to use to convey his organic, personal experiences about life. He pulls from the urban realities of city life; brutality, authoritarian relationships, decay and destruction of the world around him, and more recently the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Mike Cockrill is a figurative painter who recently announced that he was having a “Modern Breakdown” and began posted a series of photos of himself in his studio working in a radically new direction. Girls and women with fragmented faces and 1950’s hairdos, and other almost tribal works in which the female is merged with the clown and stacked like totems. Story telling was gone. So were the shades of Norman Rockwell.

Jeffrey Allen Price is a multi-media and interdisciplinary installation artist. His work often alludes to natural processes such as growth and decay and ultimately comments on consumerism and materialistic culture. His work is often process-based and accumulative, humorous and playful. His works have been shown internationally and have been features in The New York Times and on the Food Network.

Tyler Coey is a Kansas City artist whose pieces combine the brush work and technique of traditional painting with contemporary subjects and icons. Attention was quickly directed to the local gallery scene, which in turn lead to national and international exhibitions.

Chris Brett is an artist from Vancouver, Canada who utilizes mixed media to create his works. His work is influenced by graffiti, children’s books, and cartoons. He uses rich colors and dark tones to express themes of love, lust, nature and heartbreak.

Matthew Ryan Sharp is a Chicago-based artist whose work is loaded with people we all know to some degree, sharing a colorful and lighthearted view into the American soul. His images can exist in opposition between the subject and statement, the irony painted on found object canvases. He offers truth in these images, a reflection of our own humanity laced with sarcasm and humor. He does it in brutal cartoonish fervor.

Yosiell Lorenzo is a California-based artist whose work appears to be whimsical and free-spirited but when you look deeper at his work you see sadness and longing. He utilizes many different mediums in his works including: sculpture, ink, graphite, digital vector art, and paints. Recently he was a featured artist in Pixar Times and has shown his work in Gallery1988.

Rick Beaupre is a Massachusetts surrealist artist whose pieces utilize acrylic and oil paints as well as pencil sketches, charcoals, casein (which is a quick drying, aqueous medium which uses a milk-based binding agent), and watercolors.

Seth Goodman began thinking about class and wealth disparities at an early age growing up in Ballston Spa, New York, the blue-collar ugly stepchild to the next town over, high-rolling Saratoga Springs. His works are reflective of what he witness while growing up and as shocking as they may seem to some, to others they are the people living in the trailer next door.

Liz Parrish is a Pennsylvania native who draws inspiration from her surroundings, the people she cares about, ill-tempered animals, and abandoned places. She utilizes acrylics, pen and ink on wood. Her works are whimsically grotesque and feature distorted yet almost adorable creatures of her own creation.

Jeremiah Johnson is a Pennsylvania native whose pieces include works on paper inspired by dreams, visions, experimentations, and life, handmade, original decorative prints and paintings, drawings, and works inspired by the current state of healthcare in America. His work is part of several public and private collections including The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven University, Susquehanna Health, University of Chicago, Syracuse University, and Temple University.

Tim Miller is a Pennsylvania native whose pieces include 3-D works, which include ideas of love, life, loss, and luck permeate the work and in its finished state will form a seamless timeline where each piece holds its individual space in time while still being a part of an integrated whole. The 88 is an ongoing project that will consist of 88 different works with a common background and each piece measuring 8"x 8".

About OfficeOps
OfficeOps is an arts performance and production center. The second floor is the primary space for events, rehearsals, classes, and management of OfficeOps. It is laid out over a 15,000 square foot converted factory floor with space for any number of arts and culture related activities. Based on Brooklyn, NY, Office Ops is located at 57 Thames Street, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY. For more information, please call: 718-418-2509, or visit: http://www.officeops.org/.

About Converge Gallery
Converge Gallery exhibits a variety of fine contemporary art (photography, paintings, mixed media, sculpture, installations and drawings). The gallery represents the talents of many artists local and non-native, emerging and established. Based in historic downtown Williamsport, PA, Converge Gallery is located at 140 West Fourth Street. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday 11am-7pm and Saturday 11am-5pm. For more information, please call: 570-435-7080, or visit: www.convergegallery.com or email: john@convergegallery.com.